The Saphead

Released Oct 18, 1920

1h 18m

Comedy

List

57%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

48%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

The scatterbrained son of a Wall Street tycoon goes to the stock exchange and saves his father from bankruptcy.

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Audience Member

The naivete of Keaton's Bernie provides some good reactionary laughs, but overall the film is adequate at best.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Keaton`s first feature film really sees him out of his usual style. There is some physical comedy here but not even near what he does in a 18 minute short.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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eric b

"The Saphead" isn't a bad film, but it will frustrate Buster Keaton fans. Despite its farcical title, it barely even qualifies as a comedy. Ineffectual Bertie (Keaton, starring in his first feature) is a stock character -- the rich, pampered dandy who is pushed into the real world and must prove his mettle. And, of course, he's shy to tell a sweetheart that he loves her. Really, this seems like more of a Harold Lloyd vehicle. The other plot thread involves Mark (Irving Cummings), a struggling employee of Bertie's tycoon father who conspires to steal the family fortune via stock-market shenanigans. Much of the story hangs on a contrived coincidence that a valuable mine and Mark's mistress happen to share the same name (Henrietta). The script's complexity (particularly its financial element) tests the limits of silent film -- "The Saphead" is adapted from a play, and would have worked better as a talkie. Keaton had acted in numerous shorts by this time (often playing second fiddle to Fatty Arbuckle), but hadn't quite found his niche yet. He actually smiles in one scene (gasp) and has little chance for physical comedy until a climatic sequence on the stock-exchange floor. Any Keaton silent demands to be seen, but don't raise your expectations too high about this one.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This is probably one of Keaton's worst movies.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

I watched this film as it was part of âThe Art Of Buster Keatonâ box set. The film however, is as much a Buster Keaton film as King Kong is a Fay Wray film, and that is to say, not very much. Keaton was only one of many actor in The Saphead, and he never thought very highly of the film. I have to agree with Buster on this one. The film never really knows if itâs comedy or melodrama, and save for a few minutes at the stock market, is generally uninteresting.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

I've always liked Buster Keaton but for me, he's always lived in the shadow of Chaplin. To be fair, I grew up watching Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy when I was very young and I didn't discover Keaton until I was in college. By the time I did watch Buster Keaton's films, I found myself always comparing them to Chaplin's work and always viewing Keaton as a weaker carbon copy of Chaplin. This film is strictly for film historians and lovers of silent cinema. I know many film lovers who can barely sit through 2 minutes of a silent movie and thats totally understandable. Silent cinema is an acquired taste that many don't acquire. This film, like almost all silents, lacks in plot, but it more than makes up for it in watching Keaton do his physical comedy. Some of the shit he and Chaplin used to do is stuff that no insurance company would allow any star to pull off these days. These were the days before stunt people so these actors did all their own stunts. There are scenes where you marvel at how Keaton was able to avoid paralyzing himself. So if you like silent comedy or you're simply someone who's into film history, this may be worth your while.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Herbert Blaché

Director

William H. Crane

Nicholas Van Alstyne

Buster Keaton

Bertie Van Alstyne

Carol Holloway

Rose Turner

Edward Connelly

Musgrave

Irving Cummings

Mark Turner

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Ruth Boyle

New York Daily News

Buster Keaton, wandering in bewildered fashion through this complicated world as the sappiest of sapheads, makes the new film at the Capitol a pleasant diversion.

Sep 13, 2021

Full Review

Tom Milne

Time Out

Buster Keaton's first feature, though charming and lightly amusing, is something of a disappointment

Jun 24, 2006

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NYT Staff

New York Times

As a photoplay, pretending to tell a logical story, it is simply not worth considering.But the writer thoroughly enjoyed Buster Keaton's Bertie. He did not give the character human identity, but he was a most entertaining clown.

Mar 25, 2006

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Harriette Underhill

New York Tribune

Saphead is much too mild an epithet. William H. Crane is co-starred with Buster Keaton, but both will undoubtedly be able to live it down.

Nov 6, 2019

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

It's a handsome production, but Keaton is clearly at the mercy of someone else's whims.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 6, 2019

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

The Saphead is more historically important than it is aesthetically or artistically important.

Jul 23, 2012

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Synopsis

The scatterbrained son of a Wall Street tycoon goes to the stock exchange and saves his father from bankruptcy.

Director: Herbert Blaché
Screenwriter: Bronson Howard, Victor Mapes, June Mathis, Winchell Smith
Distributor: Grapevine Video, Kino Video, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Metro Pictures Corporation
Genre: Comedy
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 18, 1920, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 3, 2016
Runtime: 1h 18m